Device for operating ore-concentrators and allied machines



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet; 1]

v 0,. E. SEYMOUR. DEVICE FOR OPERATING ORE OONOENTRATORS AND ALLIEDMACHINES No. 487-,54z. Patented Dec. 6, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. SEYMOUR, LAKE GENEVA, \VISCONSIN.

DEVICE FOR OPERATING OR E-CONCENTRATORS AND ALLIED MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,542, dated December6, 1892.

Application filed February 1, 1892. Serial No. 419,880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. SEYMOUR, of Lake Geneva, in the county ofWalworth and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Devices for Operating Ore Concentrators and AlliedMachines, of which the following is'a description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to improvements in devices for operatingore-concentrators and allied machines, the present application showingand describing the invention in connection with a device constructed inaccordance with my former application for Letters Patent, filedSeptember 19, 1891, Serial No.

406,183, illustrating means for automatically throwing the gear and rackemployed in said former application for operating the cleaning-pipe intoand out of mesh, and in connection therewith means for automaticallytaking up the slack of the endless cable and for automaticallyregulating the speed of said cable. In the accompanying drawings, Figure1 is a vertical sectional view of so much of the improvedore-concentrator above referred to as is necessary to illustrate theapplication of my present improvements thereto. Fig. 2 is a fragment ofthe upper partof the frame and the parts carried thereby at right anglesto Fig. 1, looking toward the right. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the cablesystem, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing clearly thevertically-adjustable shaft and the parts operating in connectiontherewith.

Like letters and numerals of reference refer to like parts throughoutthe several views.

Referring to the drawings, the letter A indicates a portion of theframe, of suitable construction, for supporting the operative mechanism,B a fragment of the concentrator bowl or pan, and C a hollow rotatableshaft supporting rigidly said pan or bowl. An annular sleeve-valve Dupon the shaft 0 .bears normally water-tight, being properly packedtherefor against the bottom of the pan, forming a valve or dam toprevent the discharge of the concentrates from the bowl into the .hollowshaft through the portsc of said shaft.

valve-rod E, arranged centrally and movable endwise by any suitablemeans in the shaft 0, and is adapted for raising and thereby opening andfor lowering and thereby closing the ports 0.

For cleaning up and discharging the pulverized and heavier mineraldeposits that settle on the bottom and sides of the pan I provide acatcher and discharge-pipe, consisting of a flexible pipe F, which atitsinner end is secured to and opens from above through a a cap or hoodG into the chamber or space within the valve D, from which thethereinreceived material is discharged through the ports a. The hood Gis secured rigidly to hangers which are attached at their upper ends tothe frame. The flexible pipe F is provided with a metal mouthpiece f,having a soft-metal lip or scoop f secured thereto. This catching anddischarging device is adapted to have its mouth held near to the bottomor sides of the pan as the same revolves, and thus to scoop or catch upthe deposit of pulverized mineral on the bottom or walls of the pan,which by the centrifugal action of the deposit thus caught will becarried through the pipe and discharged into the valve-sleeve D. Thisaction is also better accomplished by the aid of water usually suppliedto the pan with the pulverized ore in the form of pulp or independentlythereof in any convenient manner,

which Water, flowing through the pipe, aids to carry the mineral throughit. To actuate this discharge-pipe automatically, a rod H is secured atone end thereof, said rod being provided with alaterally-extendingfingerl, which is arranged to be supported movably on a friction-rollerJ, carried by a pin fixed on an arm K. The finger I also carries at itsextremity a laterallyprojecting finger L, adapted to bear against andpass around a cam is, fixed on arm K. At its outer end the rod H ishinged to a vertically-moving rack M. A worm N, revoluble on a pin 0,fixed on a movable block P, is adapted by its rotation, when in meshwith the rack M, to raise or lower said rack in its ways in the frame.The worm is rotated by a belt Q, run on a pulley integral therewith andon a pulley on the shaft 0. The block P is movable in ways therefor onthe frame toward and from the rack, so that the worm N can be thrown outof or put in gear with the rack M by shifting the block through themedium of a lever-handle R, which is pivoted to a pin S medially on theframe. The worm N is held normally out of mesh with the rack M by aspring T, which draws the block P away from the rack.

To automatically put the worm N into gear with the rack M at regularintervals when the mechanism is in operation, a tripping or shift- 1 inglever U, pivoted mediallyon a bracket V, fixed on the frame, isconnected at its lower end by a link \V to the block P, and is ar rangedwhen tilted toward the left at its upper end, as shown in Fig. 2, toshift the block P toward the rack and put the worm into mesh therewith.

An endless cable X is provided with a cone I shaped button y, adapted,as the cable is carried forward in the direction ofthe arrow, to

take into the forked end of the lever U and time that the lever U is tobe held to the left,

is taken up, as will hereinafter more fully appear. To release thebutton y from the lever U,

a detaching-rod Z, having endwise movement in the frame, is providedwith an arm 1, adapted to engage a pin 2 on the rack M and to be carriedup thereby, whereby the rodis car.- ried against the rear part of thebutton, and

the button and cable thus elevated sufficiently to release the formerfrom the forked end of the lever U. The pin 2 is shown by dotted linesin. Fig. l at the lower end of rack M, said pin extending inwardly fromthe rack at right angles to the arm 1 of detaching-rod Z, whereby itscontact with said arm is insured upon the upward movement of the rack.The rod Z falls by gravity away from the cable when no longer supportedby the pin 2, when it goes down with the rack M.

To provide for the button striking the lever U with sufficient force, Iemploy a device for checking the motion of the cable, which consists ofa ring 4, through which the cable runs, which ring is rigid on thebracket V. To this ring I secure a funnel 5, through which also thecable runs. This funnel is constructed in two parts or jaws, the largeropen its movement slightly, taking up a little of the slack in thecable, so that the button when released from the funnel strikes thelever U with sharpness, tilting it and throwing the worm into gear withthe rack.

It will of course be obvious that as the worm N rotates the rack M thelatter is carried upwardly and with it the rod or arm H, by means ofwhich the mouth of the pipe F is drawn slowly up along the side of thepan, while the finger I will be drawn along on the Trict-ionroller J toits extremity and will thereafter bear against the under face of the camuntil it is carried entirely above said cam and the mouth of pipe F iscarried nearly to the top edge of the pan. Thereupon by the, release ofthe worm N from the rack the weight of said rack and pipe will allowthem to drop, the laterally-extending pin L falling on top of cam 70 andbeing thereby carried inwardly, keeping the mouth of the pipe F awayfrom the sideof the pan until the rack shall have reached the lowestlimit of its travel, when the upper end'ofthe rod H will be somewhatlower in the pan than shown in Fig. 1, and the mouth'of. pipe F will, bythe rod H tilting, be carried. upwardly and inwardly away from thesurface of the pan.

The finger I is hinged on a sleeve 9 in such a manner that it is capableof folding limitedly from the rod H, but is not permitted to springoutwardly relative to said rod further than to the positionsubstantially as shown in Fig. 1.

A spring 10, fixed on the sleeve 9, bears against the finger I and holdsit yieldingl'y outwardly in the position shown in Fig.

1. As the rod H is raised by the rack, the finger I, passing below thecam k, is swung inwardly toward the rod, but immediately assumes itsnormal position on passing be yond the cam, so that it is in properposition to engage the cam as the rod is lowered by the release of therack from the worm.

The foregoing description covers the machine fully set forth in myformer application, Serial No.406,183,aud which is set forth in detailherein, in order to clearly illustrate the application of my presentimprovements relating to the propelling trip-cable thereto.

The endless cable X, carrying the button y, runs over four pulleys 11,mounted upon verti'cal shafts 12, 12, 12, and 13, the latter alsocarrying a friction-wheel 14. This shaft 13 hasits step-bearingin ascrew-wheel15, which latter has its threaded shank extending into athreaded base-socket 16. As will be seen, the cable-pulley 11 isfeathered on shaft 13, so as to allow of the vertical adjustment of saidshaft without at the same time changing the relative position of thepulley.

The numeral 17 indicates a driving-shaft, which is journaled in suitablebearings 18 18 and has mounted thereon a cone-pulley 19 and on itsextremity a driving-wheel 20, which IIO ings 21 21 to one side of shaft17 is a second shaft 22, having a longitudinal movement in its bearingsand carrying medially a conepulley 23, connected with the cone-pulley ofshaft 17 by a belt 24 and also carrying upon its end a frictionaldrive-wheel 25, adapted to bear against the wheel 14 and to be held inengagement-therewith by a coil-spring 26 encircling the shaft. The cableX also runs around one side of two sheaves 27 27 and around the oppositeside of a medial sheave 28. The shaft of the latter sheave is journaledin the bifurcated end of an arm 29, said arm sliding in ways 30 andhaving attached thereto one end of a spring 31, which normally holdssaid arm laterally out of line with the other two sheaves of the series.

Of course the arrangement of the cable illustrated in Fig. v3 is suchthat it passes through the ring 4, as previously explained. As soon asthe button y strikes this ring the cable is stopped for an instant,causing a slack therein between the point of stoppage and thepower-sheave behind the button, while the cable is taken up taut infront of the point of stoppage and between the same and the power-sheaveThis tightness increases as the power-sheave revolves, but is allowedfor by sheave 28, which is drawn down against the action of itsretrievingspring. As soon as this sheave is drawn down to its fullextent, as indicated in dotted lines, the continued strain on the cableis now exerted against the obstruction afforded to the button by thechecking device, and the consequence is that said button is drawn pastthe yielding jaws and through the ring 4, striking the lever U withsharpness, so as to tilt the same and put the worm into gear with therack, as previously explained.

In order to adjust the speed of the travel of the cable, the verticalshaft 13 is raised by turning the screw-wheel 15, so as to bring thefrictional driven wheel 14 thereof closer to the center of the face ofthe frictional drivewheel 25, thereby changing and adjusting the travelof the cable, so that the trip-button y will make its circuit in anydesired time, once in fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, or sixty minutes,and thus adjust it to trip the machine at the desired time.

WhileI have in this application illustrated my invention in connectionwith an ore-contrator of peculiar construction, 1 do not wish to beunderstood as limiting myself to such adaptation, as the invention maybe used in connection with other forms of ore-concentrators or alliedmachines without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described vmy invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. The combination, with amachine provided with a tripping-lever by which certain parts aredisengaged or operated, of a lever operating device, consisting of anendless cable, a series of pulleys on which the cable is carried anddriven, one of which pulleys is movable yieldingly and is arranged byits yielding movement to permitapredetermined amount of slack on thecable, and a button on the cable, adapted to engage'temporarily thelever and tilt it, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a trip-lever, an endless cable carrying a button,which is adapted to engage the free end of the lever, sheaves or pulleysaround which said cable runs, and a series of intermediate supplementalpulleys also engaging the cable, the medial pulley thereof being movableand adapted to be drawn out from its normal position as the cabletightens and to be drawn back laterally to said normal position upon therelaxation of the cable, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a trip-lever, a motionchecking device, a cablecarrying a button adapted to be stopped temporarily by said checkingdevice and to subsequently engage the free end of the trip-lever,sheaves or pulleys around which said cable runs, and a series ofintermediate supplemental pulleys also engaging the cable, the medialspring-controlled pulley thereof being movable and adapted to be drawnout from its normal position as the button is stopped by the checkingdevice and to be drawn backlaterally to said normal position upon therelease of said button, sub stantially as set forth.

4. In an ore-concentrator having a revolving pan, a flexibledischarge-pipe, and an automatic device for elevating the pipe, thecombination of an endless cable for operating the automatic device, saidcable provided with a button, sheaves or pulleys around which the cableruns, a series of supplemental intermediate pulleys also engaging thecable, the medial pulley thereof being out of line with the outersupplemental pulleys, and a sliding spring-retrieved arm forming abearing for the shaft of the medial pulley, substantially as set forth.

5. In an ore-concentrator having a revolving pan, a flexibledischarge-pipe, and an automatic device for elevating the pipe, thecombination of an endless cable for operating the automatic device,sheaves or pulleys around which said endless cable runs, one of theshafts of said pulleys being adjustable longitudinally independent ofits pulley and carrying, also, thereon a frictional-driven wheel, and arotatable shaft carrying on its end a frictional driving-wheel adaptedto contact with the corresponding wheel of the pulleyshaft,substantially as set forth.

6. In an ore-concentrator having a revolving pan, a flexibledischarge-pipe, and an automatic device for elevating the pipe, the combination of an endless cable for operating the automatic device, sheavesor pulleys around which said endless cable runs, one of the IIO shaftsof said pulleys being adjustable longitudinally independent of itspulley and carrying, also, thereon a frictional-driven \vheel,aspring-actuated shaft carrying medially a cone-pulley and upon its end africtional driving-Wheel contacting with the corresponding wheel of thepulley-shaft, and a driveshaft carrying a cone-pulley connected with thecone-pulley of the other shaft by means of a belt, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in t presence of twoWitnesses.

CHARLES E. SEYMOUR.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR L. MORSEL-IL, O. T. BENEDICT.

